Art SG Postpones Inaugural Edition

by Ophelia Lai

Art SG, co-founded by MAGNUSRENFREW (left) and directed by SHUYINYANG (right), announced that it will postpone its inaugural edition. Photo by Joyce Yung. Courtesy Art SG.

Singapore fair Art SG announced in a press release dated June 20 that it has postponed its inaugural edition from November 2019 to October 2020, citing “requests from galleries and key participants . . . to have more time to prepare.” Fair co-founder Magnus Renfrew added that the decision to postpone to 2020 was “in the interests of presenting the best possible line up of galleries for the inaugural edition of the fair.” Gallery applications remain open, with no stated deadline.

Art SG experienced another shake-up last November, when Art Basel owner MCH Group, one of the Singapore fair’s original organizers, decided to pull out of the event as part of a wider plan to slash its regional portfolio. Renfrew was named Art SG’s new co-founder days after the MCH announcement.

Art SG has already been rescheduled before. When the event was first announced in July 2018, it was scheduled to take place on November 1–3, 2019. After MCH’s withdrawal, it was shifted to coincide with the Singapore Biennale, which opens on November 22, 2019.

Fairs in Singapore have weathered a shaky art market since 2016. Notably, in January, mainstay fair Art Stage Singapore canceled its 2019 edition less than ten days before it was scheduled to open.

The inaugural edition of Art SG is now slated to take place at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre from October 30 to November 1, 2020.